1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a transmission apparatus and method, a receiving apparatus and method, and a distribution medium. More particularly, the present invention relates to a transmission apparatus and method and to a receiving apparatus and method, in which transmission data is divided, and the data is transmitted by creating information which specifies viewing relationships among divided signals so that the data received by the receiving apparatus can be processed by the receiving apparatus without the transmission apparatus having to retransmit the data again, and to a distribution medium therefor.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, in digital broadcasting, the transmission content of a transmission party (for example, a broadcasting station) and the content received by a receiving party (for example, a household user) are the same. FIG. 12 is a view showing the transmitted and the received content in a case in which the transmission party transmits a live relay broadcast of a baseball game, and the receiving party receives it.
A baseball broadcast in FIG. 12 is composed of six items of viewing data (hereinafter referred to as the “content”): a live broadcast 1, a live broadcast 2, a replay of the live broadcast 2, a slow-motion replay of the live broadcast 2, a live broadcast 3, and a relay broadcast from another baseball stadium. When the transmission party transmits the content of the live broadcast 1, the receiving party receives the content of the live broadcast 1 by a receiving apparatus (for example, a television receiver) and views it. Next, the content of the live broadcast 2 is transmitted and is received. When transmitting a replay of the live broadcast 2 after transmitting the content of the live broadcast 2, the transmission party transmits the content of the live broadcast 2 again. When transmitting the slow-motion video of the live broadcast 2, the transmission party creates slow-motion content by lowering the bit rate of the content of the live broadcast 2 and transmits it. Since the content of the live broadcast 3 and the relay from another baseball stadium are the same as that of the live broadcast 1, descriptions thereof are omitted. That is, the transmission party produces all the content which is received and viewed by the receiving party and transmits it.
As described above, in conventional broadcasting systems, the transmission party transmits the content as it is to be received by the receiving party. As a result, all content to be received by the receiving party must be transmitted by the transmission party, and the total amount of information to be transmitted is large and a digital communication band cannot be used effectively.